Dirty tactics backfire on Nets

LeBron James said the New Jersey Nets tried to hurt Sasha Pavlovic.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James has delivered facials in all shapes and sizes. Never one like this.
Incensed by a flagrant foul inflicted on teammate Sasha Pavlovic, James went nose-to-nose with New Jersey's Mikki Moore in the third quarter of Game 4 Monday night, a heated confrontation that fired up Cleveland and sent the Cavaliers to an 87-85 win and 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal.
"It really ticked me off that they would try to do something like that to Sasha," James said Tuesday. "They tried to hurt him. And me as the leader, I had to stick up for my teammate. I didn't like it -- at all."
While watching tape of New Jersey's victory in Game 3, James said he noticed the Nets picking on and being more physical with Pavlovic, who has done a nice job so far in the series keeping Vince Carter under wraps.
"I guess the intent was to try and go at Sasha in a harmful manner," said James, who hasn't figured out why the Nets have targeted Pavlovic. "Sasha knows he has 14 guys behind him. Especially, he's got me."
And this best-of-7 series has quickly developed an undercurrent of hostility, a theme already present in the Phoenix-San Antonio and Utah-Golden State showdowns out West.
Win will advance Cavs
With a win in Game 5 tonight, the Cavaliers can advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the third time and first since 1992. They've also got a chance to win a series at home, something they've only done on three occasions in their 37-year history but never since moving into Quicken Loans Arena -- formerly known as Gund Arena -- in 1994.
So much of this is new for the Cavs, who in 14 previous postseason appearances have never built a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series.
"We've done a lot of things the last few years that the Cavs haven't done, so it's nothing new," James said. "Hopefully we can take care of business and make some more history."
The Nets might soon be history, too.
Need me more from Carter
They'll attempt to become the ninth team to erase a 3-1 deficit, but to do so, they'll need a much better effort from Carter, who went 6-of-23 from the field in Game 4 and is shooting just 34 percent (31-of-91) in the series.
Cleveland trailed by four when Pavlovic drove the lane and got flattened with a two-handed shove by Moore, who got a flagrant foul and tongue lashing from James, who refused to specify the contents of his message.
"I didn't think it was a fair play," James said. "A guy is going up off one leg and he's up in the air and he gets pushed. You can injure somebody like that. We're not a dirty team at all. We don't look for anything, but when things start to happen to us, we've got to react."
The Cavs went on a 14-3 run after the altercation, giving them a two-point lead entering the fourth. Moore's body blow also intensified Cleveland's defensive pressure and the Nets shot only 3-of-16 in the final period with no field goals in the last seven minutes.
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